Ideas That Work: The Beauty of a Suggestion Box

TAKING ADVICE A well-positioned suggestion box gives staff a chance to have their say.

If you're looking for a way to constantly improve your facility, create a suggestion box. We put the box by the charge nurses station and stocked it with forms for staff to fill out and leave in the box. Each form has sections for “Problem or observation,” “Suggestion or solution,” and “Desired outcome or impact.” We've had enormous improvement thanks to that little box. We resolved morale issues by getting another refrigerator; we planned a get-together with staff members; we even learned that we were running out of essential supplies and packs in the core on the weekend, a problem we were easily able to correct with some organization.

Jessica Barton, RN, CNOR
Providence Holy Family Hospital
Spokane, Wash.
[email protected]